Kaius slumped onto the wall of the ruined church, sliding down until he sat somewhat comfortably. His heart still pounded from the excitement of going toe to toe with a full party of undead.
Beside him lay a pile of poor quality armour. Scavenged from the body of his slain foes, it had been gruelling and disgusting work. He did, however, have a need for them when he started working on his defensive legacy skill. So he had grit his teeth and done his best to ignore his slowly healing wounds as he had stripped the bodies.
To his great relief, the small stonework building had been empty when he had peered in through a shattered window. Its only contents some tattered tapestries, a few splintering pews, a large empty hearth and an unadorned stone altar at the head of the church.
With four thick stone walls, windows too narrow for most things to climb through, and a thick wooden door that seemed in relatively good shape, it was just about as good of a spot as he could hope for in the Depths. Plus, while individual rooms and regions did reset in a biome, it often took weeks or even months of no human presence at this shallow of a layer to happen.
"Which means I will need to return here even if I go on extended explorations, since finding the exit from this layer, and being strong enough to handle its defender, will take far longer than that."
Kaius sighed, ignoring the slight burn of his now simply bruised ribs. His health had unfortunately burned itself out before they were fully healed, and now he had to wait for the slow trickle of his regeneration to fix the rest.
He closed his eyes, lightly thumping his head into the wall behind him.
To call the enormity of the problem in front of him 'tough' would be a grievous understatement. His dance with a single small group of undead militiamen had brought him close to the brink, and it was a near certainty that encounters of that nature would be common, if not more difficult.
He had to come to terms with the fact that he was going to be stuck down here for a long, long time. That if he rushed, was careless, or simply unlucky, he might not make it out alive. He didn't want to. But he had to.
"Back to basics Kaius. You're deep in some of the most hostile territory available. You need to make a plan." he thought to himself.
If he was going to do this, he needed to be strict. Strict and smart. First step, securing a reliable source of food and water. He might have a few weeks worth of rations, but they were non-perishable and it would be far better if he could save them for emergencies and longer expeditions. They also weren't exactly the most pleasant things, tooth-splitting hardtack and some hyper-nutritious pemmican that coated the mouth with cloying fat.
He also needed to merge his next legacy skill, Explorer's Toolkit, as soon as possible.
There should, if his hearing was right, be beasts in the glade. Hunting them, truly hunting them, should both ensure his own safety and give him an opportunity to train Sense Weakness. The danger of stalking true beasts instead of mundane animals would more than likely super charge his growth. Plus the hearth that sat across the room from him seemed perfect to use as a smoker to start stockpiling jerky for longer term storage.
From there, in his down time, he would work on Physical Conditioning the old fashioned way. Gruelling effort, sweat, and tears.
If he devoted himself to the task, he might be able to finish them off in the next week.
Then it would be time to start collecting more skills all over again. He eyed the loose pile of armour next to him. The skills they represented would give him some measure of security, and once he had Adamant Body he would finally feel a little more confident in truly delving the Depths.
Kaius crouched on a sturdy tree branch, steadying himself on the trunk behind him with one hand. He was nestled in amongst the canopy, the long shadows cast by the soft lighting of the cave ceiling above cloaking his figure in darkness.
He had left his pack behind at the church, preferring to travel light for a simple scouting expedition.
With sharp eyes his gaze all but tunnelled a hole into the boar-like creature that rooted in the dirt not more than a few long strides below him. It was a strange creature, strikingly dissimilar to the common boars he had seen in the forest he had grown up in. Yet in many ways it was still a boar. Roughly the right shape, tusks, a snout. It just had a row of spines, no hair, and almost no fat on its freakishly muscled body.
It looked fucking frightening if he was entirely honest with himself.
Kaius frowned, suppressing a shudder.
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"At least it doesn't seem to have the same sense of smell as a real boar. One of those would have picked me up long before it saw me"
His eyes roamed over the creature, its rippling musculature and thin skin hiding little from him.
There, just above and slightly behind its shoulder. In between a gap in its ribs. With each of the beast's heart beats he watched as the spot slightly distended and pulsed. An artery, most likely a major one with its proximity to the heart. At least if the thing was built anything like a normal boar on the inside. Sense Weakness twinged.
Kaius smiled. "Perfect."
Reaching over his back Kaius drew his sword with painful slowness. He'd already dulled the shine of his blade with ash from the church's hearth, so the only thing that could give him away now was if he made too much of a racket.
The beast below dug its tusks into the ground surrounding the roots of the tree, flinging a soft shower of dirt into the air. Evidently it had found something worth eating, as it lowered its head and began to snuffle. All the while unaware of the predator that stalked it from above.
Sword in hand he let go of the tree trunk behind him. Tension in his core and powerful legs kept him steady. His vision narrowed to a point. He could almost hear the thump of the creature's heart. The soft background sounds of the glade faded from his perception, the point of his sword levelling at the spot that pulsed.
He leapt.
As the ground rushed up to meet him his stomach dropped away. What if he missed? Sprained his ankle and found himself sprawling in front of some hell-pig that would no doubt gore him at the first opportunity?
His sword pierced the thumping gap in the boar's ribs, passing cleanly through its chest before lodging itself deeply into a tree root below the beast. A sharp jolt shot through his legs as he landed.
Kaius dropped into a backwards roll to disperse his momentum, coming up in a crouch with his hunting knife drawn in a smooth flowing motion. Tense, ready to act at the slightest movement.
The boar surged.
At the sudden pain of being run through like a copper-piece skewer the boar launched into a frenzy. It found itself stuck fast. Mouth opening to let out an enraged squeal, yet all that escaped was a wet gurgle as a torrent of red flowed from its mouth. A steady stream of blood trickled down his sword. The disturbed earth quickly turned into a rusty coloured mire as the beast tried and failed to free itself with rapidly weakening legs.
Even as its Health burned, the mindless creature only continued to widen its wounds with its struggling. Soon even that preternatural vitality gave out and it collapsed to the floor, limp.
Kaius watched the creature, tension leaving him as he recognised his success. A sense of solemn duty fell over him. He had been hunting with his father as long as he could remember, and he knew that no good hunter left a creature in pain longer than was necessary. Even if his quarry was a Depths spawned beast.
He approached swiftly, a firm grip on his knife. Taking one of its spines on its neck in his hand, he drew his blade across the boar-thing's neck, severing the carotids and its remnants of life.
**Ding! level 14 Dire Boar slain**
He took a moment to appreciate the creature's sacrifice, its life spent to fuel his growth and its body to satiate him.
The moment passed and a wide jubilant grin split his face.
With this he had secured enough food to well and truly start stockpiling. Though, glancing at the lean musculature of the creature, he might need to find something with a bit more fat if he wanted to stave off protein starvation. Pemmican might have been mediocre, but it fuelled the body well.
Pulling his sword free with a heave, he cleaned his blade before hauling the boar's body up by its hind legs to help the meat bleed. After a few limb burning minutes Kaius gutted the carcass before hauling it onto his shoulders and setting off for home.
After all, he didn't want to stick around to wait for something else to come and investigate all the blood.
Kaius tended to a small, but very smoky flame at the base of the hearth. Luckily for him, whatever real world place the church had been modelled after had had a massive grill spanning the upper third of the open hearth.
He had already butchered the boar on the altar, it being the most convenient place to do so. The meat was as lean as he suspected it would have been, but in some ways that made for easier preservation.
His fire started nicely, he quickly moved over to the altar and began hanging slices of meat off the rails in the grill, securing them in place with whittled wooden skewers.
In time he would have himself some jerky. It wouldn't last anywhere near as long as it would have if he had enough salt available to properly preserve it, but it should still last several weeks before going bad. As long as he kept it dry that is.
Neither of his remaining skills really required him to actively hunt down opponents to progress, so unless he was ambushed or ran into undead he would need to be careful to avoid scouring this glade of its denizens.
Large the glade may have been, it was still a creation of the Depths, and as such only a facsimile of an ecosystem. Once he had hunted the creatures it contained to the last, that was it. No more food.
Kaius nodded to himself in satisfaction as he secured the last strip. In a few hours this batch would be preserved enough for him to switch it out for the next one. Moving over to his bag, he quickly untied his lightweight camping pan from where it was secured its front. The creature might have been lean, but it still had some fat. Most of it layered in its belly meat.
He'd saved that for himself. After one of the most eventful days of his life, he was due for a hot meal.
Besides, if he cooked it right, he should be able to render out some of the fat and save it in one of his spare containers. If he pounded out some of his jerky he might be able to make some pemican after all.
Nestling his pan at the edge of the hearth's lightly smouldering coals, Kaius waited for the pan to preheat before throwing on the slab of belly. A soft sizzle entered the room, and Kaius couldn't help but close his eyes and salivate as the scent of cooking pork wafted over him.
He needed to refuel. After that it was time for some hard training. He was determined to finish off Physical Conditioning as fast as he could.
Kaius squatted for what felt like the thousandth time in front of the low heat of the hearth. Tightly held to his chest was a stray flagstone from the crumbling wall outside, large enough that its weight dug uncomfortably into his arms.
Reaching the bottom of his descent, he felt his quads stretch with a deep burn that brought a grimace to his face. Another drop of sweat from his face baptised the stone, its surface turning ever more slick. Forcing him to hold the rock tighter, and aggravating his already exhausted arms.
Pushing himself upwards he felt himself hit a wall, shaking as what felt like the weight of a giant pushed down on his trembling legs. Individual muscle fibres began to ping, his lower body consumed by a bone deep agony.
A low roar left his throat. Kaius pushed, driving his heels into the ground. Scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Finger-length by finger-length, his quaking figure rose.
He had been at this for hours now, his Stamina long since drained. Without fail, he would hit the wall, and without fail, he would push a little further. Quickly he would reach his limit and collapse. A few moments spent bonelessly on the floor, giving liquid muscles a moment's respite, and he would rise again to switch to a new grouping.
Kaius squatted again, thick veins bulging in his neck.
Again. Here he got stuck, straining upwards. A loud crack emanating from the back of his jaw. The pain of his broken tooth cutting through his exhausted fugue. Quickly taken over by the burning itch of regeneration. Still he strained upwards.
Again.
Again.
Again. His legs refused, one shaking knee buckling inwards as his legs totally gave out. His mind blanked, his narrow cone of vision and the ringing in his ears subsuming all of senses for just a moment. The stone slipped from his limp hands.
The jarring impact of hitting the cold stone floor brought him back. As did the crunching sensation and blaring pain as the rock landed squarely on his right foot.
"Fuck!" Kaius swore. Pushing himself upright as fast as possible to roll the stone off.
**Ding! Strength has reached level 20!*
**Ding! Physical Conditioning has reached level 15!**
Physical Conditioning:
Level 15
Uncommon
The thumping of a heart that outruns a predator. Blood fueling muscles that burn with the savage delight of the hunt. Lungs that bellow, gaseous transfusion bringing necessary vitality. Life. It lives and dies on the basis of exertion.
Each level slightly increases peak physical fitness. Each level slightly decreases the deleterious effects of exertion
Even clutching his stinging foot Kaius couldn't help but let out a loud laugh
He had done it. The unthinkable. Two levels in the same skill and a stat point in the same day.
His breath still heaving, Kaius grabbed his water skin and drained it to the last with great, greedy gulps. The cool water, faintly tasting of must and leather, soothing his parched throat. Once it was done, he shook the neck of the skin over his face, encouraging the last few stray drips free.
With an unsatisfied sigh he threw the skin to the side. It landed with a dull thwack.
"Well, now that that's done I guess it's time to find a water source."
He winced as he shifted his leg, wounded foot and thrashed muscles complaining loudly.
"Maybe once I've recovered." Kaius then eyed the slowly smoking hearth, and the nearly complete batch of jerky hanging above it. "And maybe once I've tended to the fire and put on some more meat. Wouldn't want to risk it going bad after all."
He flopped onto his back, the cold support of the stone ground feeling like a prized feathered mattress to his overworked body.
**Ding! Physical Conditioning has reached level 20!**
Kaius lay on the floor, his naked chest heaving. Each ragged gasp he made scraped uncomfortably against his bone dry throat.
Two days.
Two bloody minded, gruelling days.
He'd worked himself until he puked, and then he'd picked himself up to do it all over again. Every type of exercise he could manage with his body and a few torturously heavy stones, switching things up to avoid monotony.
A supernatural effort. The human body simply wasn't designed to push itself to true exhaustion even once, let alone consistently and repetitively. Sure, with the regenerative properties of Health and Stamina it was possible, but the mental strain alone to push through the pain and fatigue was a demon in its own right.
Kaius was sure that without Rapid Adaptation and the resistance to pain that it brought, he would have had no chance. Certainly, the pain had been enough to push that skill up a level as well.
Even then, even with his herculean effort, it should have been impossible.
Kaius frowned.
"People just don't gain five levels in one skill, and one in another, in two days. I've pushed myself to the brink for years, and it still would have been tight to keep the pace of a skill level a day that I need to fully cap myself before class selection. Father mentioned that classes increase skill levelling speed … somehow, but I dont have one. It can't be the combat multiplier either." He thought.
It was a conundrum. A question with an answer he had no way of discovering.
Kaius sat up, reaching for one of his spare shirts to mop the sweat off his face and body. In the end it didn't really matter. Whatever the cause of his increased growth, it was something that could only be beneficial for him. Besides, if this was something that happened across the Depths as a whole it would be something that was widely known. Especially amongst the large community of risk takers that plumbed its expanse.
Whatever it was, his father must have kept it from him for a reason.
Honestly, it wasn't even too hard to guess at. If it was a Depths-wide effect, which he couldn't be sure of, he completely understood why the information was withheld from him. He would even understand if it was some greater taboo to share with people before they had a class.
He had been …. Brash at times. When he was younger. The process of planning a full stack of general skills, acquiring them, and then levelling both them and your stats was an incredibly gruelling process in the five years between matriculation and class selection.
In many ways it was far worse for those with legacy skills, and according to his father most people with means had at least some access to an incredibly limited selection that were more widely known. He himself would be making use of a few of those.
The fact he had a complete set of legacy skills was incredibly lucky. Not just because of the sheer bloody rarity and power of it, but because as a full build it was an incredibly wide and flexible base. Not so specialised he was locked in to anything, and not so disparate that he felt like he had a single tool from ten different professions.
It meant his path to classing up was relatively laid out, and he really only had to think about his final skill and the spell casting experimentation he would have to do later.
Even with all that, and a consummate prodigy of a father as a round the clock trainer, he had often felt like he was floundering when he was younger. That he wouldn't make it in time.
If he'd known that he could accelerate it all, even if it meant he would be in immense danger? He couldn't lie and pretend he wouldn't have been tempted.
"And what if I was a poor peasant boy with grandiose dreams? Pressured by my father to take the skills needed to have a stable life, taking over the farm. Surrounded by monotony when all I really wanted was to live the life of those I heard in the solstice bard songs? Yeah I can see why this would be kept secret, overconfident young men and women would inadvertently kill themselves in droves." He thought.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Kaius pulled himself up, lurching with a wry smile as his overworked legs made their protest known by buckling slightly at the knee. Groaning in discomfort, he forced himself through a series of gentle stretches. He knew that recovering his stamina would fully do away with his state of weakness, but as an unclassed his regeneration was painfully slow. He may as well make himself a little more comfortable while he waited.
After that he would set off. He was overdue for a full scouting of the glade . With luck he might find himself some more undead. Sense Weakness was getting close to its cap, after all.
Kaius moved through the trees with a surety and confidence borne from a lifetime in the forest. His senses were fully in tune with the environment around him as an unexplainable breeze rustled through the canopy overhead. Without conscious thought he tuned the noise out, vigilant for any sign of beast or undead.
In some ways it was far easier to do so than it had been in his forest home. While this was the Depths, and the sheer density of powerful creatures with system access was far higher, he had yet to see any signs of life or unlife that didn't fit into that category. Excluding the flora around him of course.
It meant all he had to look for were any signs of life or movement. No need to categorise if that flash of movement was a startled deer or a greater meles, a King of the Forest, coming to tear him limb from limb.
If it moved at all, it wanted to kill him. Nice and simple.
Keeping an eye out for something moving in a forest? Interpreting tracks and other signs of something passing? That was something he was very very good at. It was how he ate.
He'd been making his circuitous route through the glade for a few hours now, intent on building as thorough of a mental map as he could. Already he had found a few fruit bearing trees, Herbalism yanking at his attention. Strange purple globular things, with a thick rind covering lighter reddish flesh. They didn't reek of magic, so they weren't reagents. Still, he'd grabbed a couple, stashing them away to test for toxicity when he grew tired enough to rest.
Travelling light, all nonessentials had been left at his base camp. Currently his pack contained a thin blanket, some basic medical supplies, and enough food and water to last him three days. He'd been lucky to find a stream when he'd taken a break from training Physical Conditioning, and had been making intermittent trips.
While Kaius doubted it would take him that long to scout the glade, it was always better to be prepared than to be caught lacking.
Beasts had already forced him to vary his path more than once. He had a different type of quarry in mind. Though he had taken the chance to observe and train Sense Weakness when he could do so safely.
Currently he was on the trail of what he assumed to be some more undead. He doubted there would be anything else in these trees that were wearing boots. From the tracks he knew it was a group, however their lacking intelligence meant that they moved without any semblance of formation. It made it hard to tell their exact numbers, what with the way they stumbled around and crossed lines every few strides.
At the very least it made following them easy. The path of disturbed dirt may as well have been a paved road for how blindingly obvious it was to him.
Picking up his pace, Kaius refused to let his focus slip. Each step he took was measured, if fast from a lifetime of practice. With ease he stepped over and around dry brittle leaves and loose twigs, minimising the noise from his passing.
He was unsure exactly what sort of senses the undead had, whether they mirrored that of a living man or if it was something of a more arcane nature. Either way, he wasn't going to allow himself to get sloppy on the mere chance that he might be wasting the tiniest modicum of effort.
A short while later and he caught up to them.
He heard them before he saw them. Heavy foot falls crashing through the undergrowth in a clumsy staccato. The sound of it sent his heart rate thumping in his chest, a savage tension surging through him as his jaw tensed in anticipation.
Quietly as he could he swung his pack off, nestling it safely at the base of a tree. He drew his sword silently.
His approach slowed as he started to move from tree to tree, eyes locked on the point from which he could hear the moving undead. Tree by tree, step by step, the sounds began to grow louder.
As he drew close the tension that weighed on him began to morph, changing into a savage anticipation of the clashing of blades, rent flesh, and a battle well fought. Kaius felt his face go hot, a flush rising as blood roared through his veins. He could almost hear it.
His father called it the Bloodsong. Said it was common amongst those who delved the Depths. Said you had to be a certain kind of mad to enjoy throwing yourself into death hour after hour, day after day. And you did have to enjoy it. Those who didn't quit. Or died.
Only a few weeks prior he didn't understand. Even a few days ago, his brush with death as he cleared the church had terrified him. That had faded. Oh, he was still scared. Only a fool didn't fear death. Fear kept you sharp. Now though, it was paired with excitement. No where else would he see the kinds of gains he had seen.
Being trapped down here was a blessing. It might have been a blessing covered in thorns, but it was a blessing all the same.
Peering out from behind a bush he was crouched behind, Kaius saw them.
Five undead, in a distant and messy formation.
The leading two looked to be carrying heavy boar spears, while of the ones trailing further behind two were carrying hunting knives closer in size to daggers. The final undead that was lingering at the centre of their rough formation held what looked to be a timber axe.
All, barring minor differences, were garbed in what amounted to simple clothing with a heavy leather vest. Kaius smiled at the sight of that, ratty leather would do little to stop his honed blade from cleaving through them.
Still, flimsy armour and poor quality hunting instruments or no, the undead were still a threat. They were ungainly, but he knew from his previous fight that they were front loaded with Strength. A good blow could easily shatter an arm, leaving him at a severe disadvantage at best.
He would have to leverage speed and flexibility to outmanoeuvre them, especially since this time there wouldn't be a convenient natural choke point. Though, he should be able to use some of the dense underbrush to hamper them, but it would affect him too with the length of his sword.
Taking out the knife-wielders as fast as possible should minimise their advantage on that front though.
Kaius set his eyes on the rearmost undead, one of his first targets, still brainlessly wandering forwards. Taking a sharp breath to steady any lingering nerves, he ignored the way his tongue stuck to the roof of his bone dry mouth. Choosing instead to lean into the Bloodsong that bubbled away beneath the surface.
With silent steps Kaius moved past the bush he had been hiding behind, his pace accelerating as fast as he could still remain silent. He brought his sword up into an inside guard, pommel pulled into his armpit as he pointed it directly towards the walking corpse he had set his eyes on.
The ground flew beneath him, Kaius quickly closing the gap. Soon he could make out the thin, limp, hair that dotted the undead's withered scalp. With each step it let out a dry rasping gasp. Forced to make a mockery of even the most basic of life's functions.
Somehow, some way, it sensed him, tensing once he was within a few scant long-strides of its back. It stopped. Beginning to turn as it let out a rattling gasp. A facsimile of a mind knowing that it should call out to its compatriots, but its expired flesh was unable to act on the half remembered instincts.
The other undead continued on, unnoticing.
It made an about face, Kaius locking gaze with its glassy and soulless eyes. It was too slow to do anything other than that. From his inside guard Kaius's sword spun over his head, pivoting his lower body with the motion as he brought his sword down into an overhead swing.
Magically honed steel cleaved through its brittle skull with a subtle crunch. Black blood and stinking grey matter coated his blade.
**Ding! level 13 Undead Huntsman slain**
He pulled his sword free, lurching into another run as he advanced on the next undead that held a knife. It was less than ten long-strides away, the gap closing fast.
Behind him the slain body of the first undead hit the ground with the sharp crack of a splintering twig. Kaius winced at the sound. Almost as one the remaining group stopped dead, slowly turning to investigate the sound.
The remaining knife-wielder saw him, a soft rattle of a war cry leaving its shrunken lips. It stepped towards him with its hunting knife held high. Kaius didn't stop.
It swung. He planted one foot solidly into the loamy soil, bringing himself up short. A sharp jolt of force shot up his leg, but the slight pain was quickly forgotten as the undead's blade sailed past his chest in a narrow miss.
The failed swing left it wide open. Kaius didn't hesitate. He speared it through the nose, a cold spray of jellified fluid catching him in the face.
**Ding! level 13 Undead Huntsman slain**
The heat of battle washed over him, a manic grin growing on his face as blood boiled in his veins. Spinning on his lead foot, Kaius pivoted to face the rest of the undead.
Slack jawed and expressionless, they had wasted no time thinking on the death of their allies. No moments of panic or shock slowed their responses. They simply advanced on him, led by the one wielding an axe.
Kaius flicked his sword, rotten brain matter splattering on to a stray pile of leaf litter.
The two undead holding boar spears had their points levelled at his chest, slowly advancing. The axe-wielder had no such compunctions, working itself up into a stiff legged run. Kaius settled into his stance, happy to let the undead build some distance from its allies.
It reached him with the fury of a runaway bull, swinging its axe in a savage horizontal swipe.
Kaius simply stepped back, letting the axe sail past him harmlessly.
The momentum of the blow briefly pulled the undead off balance, before it righted itself and quickly lashed out with an overhead. Kaius parried the blow, a flick of his sword pulling the axe of centre. A swift riposte cut a furrow through its chest.
They were so clumsy.
Kaius struck for the head, eager to finish the fight quickly. The undead just barely managed to bring its axe up to block, its infernal might stopping his blow cold. Shoving back against his guard it broke the bind, shifting its hands to bring its axe down in a short chop.
Openings screamed to him. Strength and a certain awkward speed it might have, but without control, without technique, it was useless.
With a flick of his wrists Kaius brought his blade back around, binding the axe once more. A slight turn of the blade and a forward push, and he slipped through the undead's guard.
Impaling its head on his blade.
**Ding! level 14 Undead Logger slain**
**Ding! Sense Weakness has reached level 18!**
The corpse dropped like a puppet with its string cut. Kaius's chest rose with each deep inhale, the exertion of battle impossible to avoid. Still, the burn in his muscles felt good. Seeing the undead lie inanimate once more, shattered and broken, felt good. Knowing that each one he put down was another step closer to his goals made his blood sing.
He understood it now. The Bloodsong. How it could drive people to such maddening heights.
He levelled his gaze on the final two undead, still slowly approaching with their boar spears levelled.
Only two left.
Kaius stood on the wide trail beaten through the undergrowth of the subterranean glade, watching the two undead that slowly approached with spears levelled at his chest.
Their weapons had the stout look of boar spears. Leaf shaped blades capped by lugs on a stout haft six strides in length. They were weighty, unwieldy things. More meant for planting firmly in the ground to arrest a boar's charge than true weapons of war.
They still held the reach advantage. If only barely
Kaius grinned, the Bloodsong still running hot in his veins. Mere seconds previously he had slain their allies. They would be joining them soon.
Feinting a step forward, Kaius watched the undead thrust toward him, warding off an assumed advance. Like the others they were strong and fast, but ungainly. Their bodies lacked the smooth flowing balance of a trained fighter, wooden fingers struggling to rearrange themselves as they adjusted their grip.
Even the points of their spears wavered through the air, as if uncertain of where to strike.
With each step they took forwards, Kaius took a calm one backwards, holding his sword at the ready.
The left one cracked first. Suddenly lunging, it drove its spear towards him with its rear hand, thrusting towards him in a great extended stab. A snarl left his lips as he flicked his sword, pushing the spear away from him.
He stutter-stepped forward, bringing himself inside the first spearman's guard. He grabbed the spear haft, capitalising on the undead's sluggish reactions to shove it upwards and knock away the second spear thrust that had been poised to take him in the chest.
Yanking hard on the haft he held, he pulled its stumbling owner towards him. Kaius pivoted on his leading foot, scything his rear leg outwards.
His shin met the side of the undead's knee with a gruesome crack.
Its leg gave out and its grip slipped from the spear as it tried to arrest its fall.
Its companion was not idle, their own spear already descending in a sharp cut towards Kaius.
His eyes widened. His kick had put him out of position, and with a sword in one hand and a spear held mid haft in the other, he had no way to block or parry.
Instead he chose to give flesh to take bone.
Twisting, Kaius felt the half blunted edge of the boar-spear cut a line of fire from nipple to hip, a wet stream soaking his tunic in moments, quickly followed by the rapid itch of his Health draining to heal the wound. It enraged him. He'd been overconfident again.
A quick step took him out of reach of the downed undead that was even now grasping towards him, taking its spear with him. A few more took him out of the range of the still standing one.
He took a moment to look down. His front was soaked, a deep red spilling across the dyed green fabrics and staining the hardened chestnut brown leather reinforcement of his hunting clothes. It would take hours for them to repair themselves.
They had been a gift.
Kaius narrowed his eyes at the standing undead, a vein on his neck bulging as he saw his blood drip off its spear point.
Creating some more distance, he tossed his stolen boar-spear up in the air slightly and reversed his grip.
He hauled the heavy spear over his shoulder, raising his sword with his other arm to aim at the undead that continued to stumble towards him.
Twisting and engaging the muscles in his back, he heaved.
The spear flew.
The undead attempted to bat the projectile out of flight.
It missed.
The spear smashed through the undead's chest, lugs ensuring its momentum was fully transferred. It fell.
Kaius let out a dark laugh. Running towards his downed opponent, he ignored how each step sent another lash of pain through his chest.
By the time he arrived the undead was already scrambling at the ground, hurrying to right itself. His downwards chop ended that.
**Ding! level 13 Undead Huntsman slain**
He turned to the remaining undead, advancing towards it. It was actively clawing at the ground, dragging its way towards him. Its empty expression infuriated him. The way its slack mouth revealed rotten nubs of teeth and a shrivelled tongue. Its empty eyes betraying a total lack of thought, even of those primal functions such as hunger or rage.
He spat on its face, then shattered its skull with a stomp.
**Ding! level 14 Undead Huntsman slain**
Kaius let the moment wash over him, his thumping heart and screaming chest doing little to dampen his jubilation at his victory. He was starting to feel like it was actually possible. Surviving the Depths as an unclassed.
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Five undead, and little more than a scratch to pay for it. Sure, it was a small raiding party. He knew that as far as things had gone so far, he had played it incredibly safe. Greater threats there might be, but he had a lot of room to grow. Seven more merged skills, one within hands reach. He could do it.
He could get out and find Father
The blood leaking from his chest started to soak into his pants, he grimaced at the cool stickiness on his skin.
'But first, I should probably clean myself up,' he thought.
After cleaning his sword on some loose leaf litter, Kaius sheathed it and jogged back to his pack. A clean cloth from his first aid kit and some water was enough for him to start mopping up the blood that coated his chest, the tear in his tunic giving him convenient access.
It didn't do much for the rapidly drying blood that had soaked into the cloth and leather, but the cleaning enchantments would take care of that. The rip still annoyed him though. He hadn't lied when he said they had been a gift.
One his father had given him for his most recent birthday, now that he was fully grown. Like all of Father's gifts, they were superbly made, and he had personally inscribed them. Strong, but simple inscriptions meant to keep the garments in perfect repair while providing some minor resistance to the elements. Still, Self Repair was a notoriously complex enchantment, a testament to Father's skill.
They straddled the line between hard wearing hunters clothes and armoured leather. Tough cotton, with at times double width hardened full grain hide protecting his important bits.
Rinsing his cloth of blood as well as he could - he did still want to preserve his water after all- Kaius returned it to his pack before fetching a large needle and thread. A few minutes of fiddly work and the rent in his clothes was held together with an ugly but firm stitch.
Once the tear had repaired itself he would be able to pick the thread free, but for now it was more important that his clothes were secured tightly in case he ran into anything else unsavoury.
Packing everything away, he swung his bag onto his back before returning to the scene of his battle. A frown crossed his face, his brow furrowing in surprise. In the heat and intensity of his clash with the undead he had missed something.
The messy tracks that he had followed to track the undead?
They continued.
'That's interesting.'
His eyes flicked to his Resources.
Resources:
Health - 139/200 (2/min)
Stamina - 174/200 (2/min)
Mana - 120/120 (2/min)
His health was still slowly dropping, but it was quickly levelling out as the cut on his torso finished healing. Half an hour to top himself off. Not bad. He could always keep his distance if he found anything noteworthy in the meantime.
Afterall, the undead he had seen up until this point hadn't exactly been the most perceptive things.
He eyed one of the discarded boar spears, the one that had slashed him through the chest. It could come in handy, having something with a bit more reach. Even if it was in poor shape, its stout construction meant it should hold up fine. At least temporarily.
The fact that it wasn't covered in undead viscera like the one he had planted in its owner's chest helped too.
New spear in hand he set off following the trail.
It ended up being much longer than Kaius had anticipated. Luckily his new armament acted as a half decent walking stick, even if it was a little cumbersome.
Now Kaius watched the looming cavern wall draw closer and closer. Wherever the tracks led, it seemed to be positioned at the base of the cavern wall.
As he continued on, he was relatively surprised to find that the tree growth failed to thin out. The portion of the cavern that he had originally entered had been relatively sparsely populated by plant life. Still enough to qualify as a sort of forest, but the trees were spaced wide apart.
It had gotten denser as he had penetrated deeper into the thick of the glade, but he had thought that the lighter tree cover extended around the full circumference of the massive cavern. Apparently he was mistaken.
He closed the remaining distance to the looming cavern wall, leaving the trail to pass through densely knotted trees and bushes. He wanted as much cover as possible, though he stayed close enough that the undead's tracks were always in sight.
Once he got within a hundred long-strides of the cavern wall he found a suitably memorable tree, another one of those rare fruit laden plants that he had seen in his travels. Scoring its bark with his hunting knife, he made sure the mark was clear and visible from the bush beaten tracks he had been following. Then, he stashed his pack.
Spear held at the ready, he pushed his way through the undergrowth.
The soft glow of the cave moss shone between the closely nestled trunks. He approached slowly, keeping his profile as minimised as possible as he used the ample foliage as cover. Once he got as close as was comfortable, Kaius put a thick tree trunk between his body and the edge of the trees.
Peering around it, he saw that the trees abruptly stopped a good thirty or so strides before the cavern wall. The no man's land covered in long grass and a few scraggly bushes.
It was what he saw on the cave wall that drew his eye. Off to his right, in the direction of the tracks, was what looked to be a compound set into a great opening that had been worked into the stone, its jagged edges reminiscent of mining. Three stone structures standing proud in the shadow of the cave.
They seemed to have a similar architecture to the church where he had made his home. The same tall slatted roofs, with thin slitted windows set high in each wall. Where the church was clearly a place of worship, this seemed to be some sort of hunting lodge.
The main building, situated at the back of the shallow cave, was a wide and squat building. A veranda spanned its front face, collumned stone holding up its awning. Across its paved surface numerous drying racks were set up, ratty and hole ridden fur pegged in place.
The other two buildings were smaller in scale. One was set close to the entrance, a large smoke stack jutting out slightly from the cave and rising above its lip. The most likely reason for its positioning, he supposed. If he was to guess, it had to be some sort of smoke house, though he was in no rush to see whatever meat stores were kept within.
The final building was a small, but over engineered, building set just off to the side of the main lodge. From the little Kaius could make out through the dark shadows that drenched the cave, it had no windows, and it's heavy set door was barred tight with several chains.
The sight of that set Kaius's heart thumping.
It wasn't just the Bloodsong and the wealth of experience available that sent so many into the Depths' embrace. Monetary reward and otherwise unobtainable resources did that enough all on their own. Artefacts, rare materials, and strange alchemical ingredients could all be found here. Often they were tied to some Depths-born construction, from what he had heard.
Just like a secure locked building attached to a hunting lodge built into the side of an impossibly sized cavern.
'There's just one problem' He thought to himself.
The entire place was crawling with undead.
From his vantage point Kaius was able to make out fifteen undead.
They milled around the hunting compound that was recessed into the cave wall. Some drifted from building to building, patrolling the area in some mockery of a lively camp. Others just stood there, swaying in place.
It was unnerving. The unnatural stillness with which they stood, unbroken by the micro-movements and twitches typical of the living. The way they burst into motion without warning, speed and power juxtaposed by a jerky and almost mechanical lack of grace. It set his teeth on edge. It looked wrong. Unnatural.
He hated the undead.
Fifteen would be the most amount of anything he had faced in single combat. He had skill and dexterity on his side, but it was still a lot of bodies.
At the very least they all seemed about as well armed as the patrolling party he had faced an hour or so earlier. Half rotted leather hunting gear, not even true armour, and a smattering of hatchets, axes, spears and knives.
Unnatural and disgusting they may be, the fact that they were undead would play in his favour. They would have nonexistent Endurance. No Health to regenerate wounds. His father had told him of great and terrible spirits of death who could heal with Mana. Not here though. Deep, far deeper than he would ever reach for years.
Strong, indefatigable, and immune to blows that would mean the end of anything with a heart beat. They were also dim, clumsy, and had no Health.
He could fight them defensively, utilising positioning, the environment, and superior coordination to whittle them down one by one.
Fifteen was still a lot of bodies. He gulped.
Kaius took a deep breath, quelling the nervous tension within him. Despite their numbers, he couldn't deny that the prospect of facing off against such a large group was as exciting as it was anxiety inducing. Plus the dangling carrot of the store house was too great to ignore.
There was something more than the promise of glory and loot that made the risk so enticing however. The pressure and push of facing so many foes at once would force him to the edge, he would have to capitalise on every single mistake the undead made.
The urge to merge his next legacy skill had been a constant buzz in the back of his mind. Every one he completed would make him just a little safer, give him another powerful tool to work with as he tried to survive in an environment he had no right to be in.
The battle ahead was sure to level Sense Weakness, in all likelihood more than once.
He needed that. Needed the edge his next legacy skill would bring him. Needed to start on the next one after that, that would bring him some much needed survivability.
Tightening his grip on his spear, his knuckles went white.
Kaius launched himself forward, pushing off a root and shoving the trunk he was hiding behind to bring himself up to full speed in a burst of acceleration.
The light brush standing between him and the end of the treeline whipped against his legs. Quickly forgetting the stinging mark of their passage as he bent his mind to the singular goal of closing the gap between himself and the closest of the wandering undead.
He brought the point of his spear up and level, turning his run into a charge.
Soft breeze covered his advance, the rustling of leaves enough to drown out his heavy breaths and the soft thumping of his feet on soil.
He was almost there.
Some of the undead, those who just so happened to be looking in his direction, had already noticed him. Ambling limbs readied glorified farm tools as they drew in his direction on stumbling. His target did not move. Too dim-witted to experience even vague curiosity at what had riled up its fellows. Kaius grinned, surging blood making his face grow hot.
The point of his spear rammed into the back of its head with the force of a charging bear, driving deep into its liquified brain. Black blood sprayed out as the undead was flung forwards from the force of the collision. The machete it held in its hand tumbled to the ground.
**Ding! level 12 Undead Scout slain**
Vibration shot through his spear and into his arms, stinging the palms of his hands. He was forced to plant his feet, sliding in the soft earth to arrest his charge.
Ripping his spear free from the body of the dead scout, he turned to face the rest of the undead, now well aware of his presence.
In an instant he assessed their composition. They were still spread out, those first few who had seen him only now just beginning to cross the courtyard between the lodges buildings. He still had time. Unfortunately, whatever mindlessness impeded the undeads' senses and cooperative abilities also seemed to make them impervious to surprise. They all just seemed to notice he was there, and then got ready to gut him where he stood without taking any time to think about it.
The closest to him was a trio who had been standing in the shadow of the smokehouse. One with a spear, One with a hatchet, and another with a knife.
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Kaius was already moving, a burn settling into his legs as he launched off in a new direction. The spear-wielder tried to ward him off, waving its duplicate of his own weapon at him. He feinted a lunge, smiling as it reacted with a clumsy stab. Lashing out with his spear, he batted away the threatening point of the weapon. Committing to his riposte, his spear point sank into the undead's shoulder with a sickening crunch.
It tried to bring its spear around for a slash, but its shattered joint inhibited its motion, achieving nothing better than a slow, shaky, slide. Kaius pulled his spear free from the joint and pivoted on his front foot, stabbing out to catch the nearby undead knife-wielder full in the chest, utilising the lugs at the base of his spear point to shove it backwards.
Black blood sprayed from its chest as Kaius ripped his weapon free from the second undead. He whipped his spear back around to his first target, the leaf-like blade tearing a path through the spear-wielders quad.
It collapsed onto one knee.
While the knife holding undead was scrambling its way up from the ground, the last of the immediate undead charged at Kaius. Happily kicking over its ally that struggled to rise with a partially severed leg.
He stabbed its face. It parried. Pushing his spear point down with a savage chop of its hatchet. Moving with the strike instead of contesting it, Kaius stabbed the undead in the hip. Reverberations resonated up his spears haft as its point ground along bone, making a mess of the joint.
After he ripped his blade free, it took a slow haltering step forwards on its injured leg. Satisfied the wound had hampered it enough, Kaius lunged towards the one with the knife, who had almost fully recovered from their fall.
Organ damage or no, the blow to its chest hadn't done much to slow it down.
His spear point punching through its undefended face solved that.
**Ding! level 14 Undead Huntsman slain**
The initial pack dead or disabled, Kaius looked up to survey the rest of the lodge.
The front runners of the remaining eleven were getting uncomfortably close, with the rest not far behind. He decided to fall back, unwilling to tangle with such a large group while leaving even crippled allies at his undefended back.
A few quick stabs left deep cuts on the remaining standing undead, nicking the muscle of its arms and hampering its movement. He would have liked to drop it where it stood, but it would take time to work his way through it's guard.
Kaius jogged backwards, parallel to the cavern wall. Neither of the two still 'living' undead he had engaged were able to follow him, their damaged knee and hip hampering their movement.
He looked past them, focusing on the mob that rapidly reached where he had just been standing. The shambling staccato of their feet striking a discordant note with the strong and even beat of his heart hammering in his chest.
The leader of the pack held an axe. Taller than most, it struck an imposing figure. Kaius no longer feared them though, any anticipation he held as he watched from the treeline was washed away by the roaring rhythm in his blood and the savage joy of combat.
Kaius had gotten their measure now. Disgusting creatures they might be, but no real threat. Too clumsy. Too many openings.
The large undead reached him, a stumbling chop swinging wide and leaving it over extended with a simple back step. Sense Weakness screamed at him. A smooth step forward. A simple thrust.
Another spray of black blood. Another body crumpling where it stood.
**Ding! level 16 Undead Logger slain**
His compatriots quickly followed, mobbing him. Wild, uncontrolled swings were avoided with tight and efficient movements. Those he could not dodge, he pulled off centre with simple bats of his spear.
The undead's numbers quickly began to work to their detriment, ungainly strength and dim witted minds turning the rabble into an unreasoning pit of aggression more than any cooperative fighting force. None tried to force him into a corner. None tried to attack in unison, or create openings for a fellow.
Kaius feinted, an undead with an axe taking a wild swing only to elbow a fellow undead holding a knife, sending it realing. A quick stab caught the flat footed undead, returning it to the embrace of true death.
**Ding! level 14 Undead Huntsman slain**
Kaius continued to back up, making use of the strip of open space that separated the vale from the edge of the cavern. "So mindlessly aggressive," he thought to himself as a spear-wielder's botched swipe slapped an undead holding a machete, who had committed to a thrust at the wrong moment.
Unfortunately the blunder didn't leave either of them opening for a killing stroke. Too many of the mob still standing, a committed lunge would leave him far to open to a strike from their allies. It didn't, however, mean he did nothing. A light thrust scoring a line across the offending undead's forearm, hopefully deep enough to hamper its grip.
His retreat from the mob was slow. Measured. All he had to do was wait. He had already seen so many openings. Sense Weakness remained silent, no more than a low level hum in the back of his mind. Too many opponents for him to capitalise on the failure of a single individual.
Still, his time would come. He just had to be patient.
Another avoided wild swing. The dance continued.
An axe wielder struck, its terminal arc ending with a violent crunch in one of its allies' knees as Kaius dodged the blow. The unfortunate undead pitched forward, mangled leg collapsing as it tried and failed to take another step. Sense Weakness twitched in the back of his mind.
Kaius's leaf-shaped spear point arrested its fall.
**Ding! level 16 Undead Huntsman slain**
He stepped back, back burning as he wrenched his spear free in order to keep pace with the thinning crowd.
Looking to the tree line off to his right, he considered if it was worth it to dive into its embrace, before deciding against it. While his heart thumped, and his legs burned at his continual giving of ground, nothing had yet to turn against him.
Kaius took his time, allowing the uncoordinated mass of limbs and flesh that pursued him to work to its own destruction. False openings were seen through, as he trusted in Sense Weakness to lead him right. It wasn't perfect, he was sure if it was a higher level it might have been able to direct him to capitalise on more delicate openings instead of only the most obvious. It was still enough to stop him falling into a trap.
Steadily he whittled away at the small horde of undead. A tangle of limbs here, a wild swing shoving another out of position there, at one point one enterprising undead even managed to bury its hatchet in one of its compatriots foreheads.
It wasn't easy, not by a long shot. A quick glance at his resources showed his stamina was getting uncomfortably low, closing in on half full. His legs burned something else, unused as he was to an extended jog backwards while fending off infernal corpses. The scavenged spear was also looking worse for wear, its once stout haft ragged with chips and deep scratches from warding off blows.
Finally, when there were only three left, he received the first of the notifications he had been waiting for.
**Ding! Sense Weakness has reached level 19!**
"Took long enough!" He thought as a grin split his sweat streaked face.
Kaius planted his feet. There were only three undead remaining from the small mob that he had stumbled upon at the hunters lodge and led on a merry chase. More than a low enough number for him to stop running. Of the three, the one front and centre held a pitted machete, same as the one on its left. Its companion to its right holding a hatchet.
All three tried to swing as soon as Kaius stopped moving. He thrust, lancing the middle undead in the shoulder. Or at least, he tried to. The leftmost undead whacked his spear with its machete, shunting him off target. He swung his spear sideways, pivoting to a new target and carving a line through the rightmost undead's face as he smacked away the hatchet it had raised.
A spray of thick black blood coated the soft grass between them.
Kaius took another steady breath, the smell rotting blood mixing with the earthy tones of disturbed loam. Any disgust at the scent washed away in his Bloodsong. A step back prevented his rabid foes from closing the distance, he feinted another strike at the centremost undead, before whipping his spear back into the hatchet-wielder. One of the boar-spears lugs impacted the undead's skull with a savage crack, splintering the bone.
The other undead tried to capitalise on his committed attack, lunging towards him with a swing and a stab. Kaius leapt back out of range, his heart keeping a steady rhythm even as his tunic clung uncomfortably to his chest due to the sweat of his extended exertion.
In its fervour, one of the machete-wielders lunged after him, swinging its blade in an attempt to gut him where he stood. Kaius pulled his haft in tight and the undead's machete swung past, leaving it flat footed. Experience and Sense Weakness drove him to action, a thrust puncturing deep into the underside of the undead's jaw, and erupting from the crown of its head with a crunch of shattered bone.
**Ding! level 15 Undead Huntsman slain**
Kaius maintained his momentum, ripping his spear free to flow into a tight cut at the next closest undead. It brought its machete up in a block, catching the haft of his spear before it could cleave through its skull.
Breaking the bind he pulled back, then thrust with a rapid flurry of stabs, alternating between targets. The undead did their best to ward him off, but decrepit nervous systems hampered their attempts.
One, looking almost frustrated, tried to physically chop through his haft. Kaius grinned, stepping back to let the axe swing past and pull the undead off balance. The opening did not go unmissed.
It fell with a weeping hole where its nose used to be.
**Ding! level 16 Undead Huntsman slain**
Sweat stung as it streamed down Kaius's face and into his eyes. Not for a moment did he consider taking a hand from his weapon to wipe his face, nor scrunching his eyes to clear the salty irritant. He was too honed in. There was only one left.
One.
Left.
Kaius let out a war cry, breaking the silence he had held since springing his ambush. The savage reverberations stabbed at his throat, heightening his aggression. He swept his spear up before slamming it down into the undead's guard. It stumbled at the sudden force, before rallying itself to jump toward him in mindless fury.
Switching his grip, he momentarily held his spear like a quarterstaff, before slamming its butt into the undead's machete. Knocking the weapon away. A reverse strike drove his spear point through the creature's neck, a torrent of black soaking its ratty leathers in moments.
He carried through the strike with a push kick to the undead's chest, sending it sprawling prone. Kaius planted his foot and smiled at the scrambling thing.
"Fifteen doesn't seem so bad anymore." He said, eyes cold despite his grin.
He slammed his spear home, planting its leaf bladed point in the monster's skull, and leaned his full body weight into the spear. Pulling it free, he walked away from the messy pile of blood and viscera before slouching over as he gasped.
That had been rough. But so, so much fun. As the unnatural wind cooled the sweat on his brow, Kaius looked at the destruction he had left in his wake. A line of black, evidence of the dozens of wounds he had inflicted on the mob. A grisly trail leading to the hunters lodge far in the distance, interposed every so often by the limp corpse of a downed foe.
"Gods damn them, that was tough" He panted, using his free hand to massage one of his calves. They still burned something fierce, strained from his hapdash retreat over uneven ground.
He squinted, seeing an undead slowly shamble its way closer to him, shaded in the half light of the cavern. One of the crippled ones, hampered by its injured leg. It promptly stumbled, falling over face first.
The absurdity of it jolted, a soft bark of a laugh escaping his lips.
"Well, best not leave a job unfinished." He said with a shake of his head.
Standing up straight, he planted his spear point first into soft soil below, allowing it to stand freely. He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, shaking loose the accumulated tension in his arms, before bending over to stretch out his legs. A groan slipped out as the burning ache in his legs intensified behind his knees and the back of his thighs.
"That's a bit better." Kaius mumbled as he stood back up.
He took a look at his spear, its mangled haft, and blood drenched tip. He frowned.
"Probably best to just grab a new one."
He looked back to the distant undead, now risen again and limping in his direction, patting the hilt of his longsword for reassurance.
Keeping a comfortable pace, he set off the way back the way he had come, one eye trained on the tree line for any sign of beasts that may have come to investigate the noises of his battle. Thankfully, there were none..
He kept in line with the trail of his battle, walking around the leaking corpses of his slaughtered foes. Though unfortunately he was not entirely able to ignore their foetid stench now that the heat of battle had left him.
"Gods that smells rank." He said, his face paling. It could have been worse, he thought. He'd mostly avoided blows to their centre mass. He shuddered to think what unholy abomination he would have to deal with if he had perforated their bowels.
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About halfway to the hunters lodge and the stumbling figure in the distance Kaius stopped by the corpse of an undead who had been using a boar-spear of its own. He eyed it, checking it for any major damage. It was splintered and poorly maintained, but in a damned sight better state than his own.
He tossed his spear to the side, replacing it with the new one.
With a new walking stick in hand, he locked his eyes on the slowly approaching undead and picked up his pace.
Once he got close enough to the creature he stopped. Hefting his spear over his shoulder, he took aim and threw it at the undead with a grunt. With unerring finality it soared through the air. It tried to smack the missile out of the air. Unfortunately, it was hampered by the deep wounds Kaius had left over its limbs.
The spear slammed home into its face, the blade sinking down to the lugs as the weapon's weight sent its corpse sprawling.
**Ding! level 15 Undead Huntsman slain**
Kaius let out a hoot of success, pumping the air. "Bullseye!" he said with a grin.
Reaching the corpse, he yanked his spear free. Only a short walk from the lodge that had been set into the cave, Kaius could see the final undead struggling as it clawed its way across the ground, a shattered knee preventing it from rising.
"Pathetic things, aren't they?" Kaius said to himself as he watched it haul itself across the dirt on one good arm..
Finishing it off took even less effort than the walk over to it.
**Ding! level 14 Undead Huntsman slain**
Pulling his spear free from its skull, Kaius cleaned its point in the soft earth before looking over to the lodge's compound. It was entirely empty, draped in shadow by the stone hollow it had been built in. It was an eerie sight, one that heightened Kaius's senses. Some primal insight that baulked at the unmoving silence of the buildings.
A flicker of intent brought up his resources.
Resources:
Health - 200/200 (2/min)
Stamina - 64/200 (2/min)
Mana - 120/120 (2/min)
His eyes flicked back to the ominous buildings.
"Not a chance in the Pit that I'm going in there without all my Stamina. There's more of them inside, sure as a merchant's a swindler."
Oh sure, the temptation was there. To kick the door in with a wild yell, engaging whatever he found in a brawl. Relying on his strength of arm and his skill with the blade to see him through the day - but he would have to be a massive idiot to do that. There could be anything inside those buildings. Another handful of undead? Sure, he could manage that. It could also just as easily be some witch, or undead necromancer, and he had no intention of risking his life for a Song.
So he slunk back into the tree line, taking a few minutes to find his pack. After digging through it to secure a water skin and a handful of too-smoky jerky, he returned to the tree he had first inspected the lodge from. He rested his back against the trunk, yanking at his tough strip of dried meat with clenched teeth. It really needed some salt, the muted ashy taste pulling all the moisture from his mouth. He kept his eyes on the lodge, ears tuned in to catch anything that might be approaching from within the forest.
With a stout tree at his back he wasn't too worried, but it always paid to be careful.
Kaius exited the trees, his stamina back to full after waiting for just over an hour. Spear in hand and sword on his hip he made his way towards the lodge compound.
His first target was the smoke house. His reasoning was simple, it was a hell of a lot smaller than the lodge itself. Which meant if it was full of undead, it would most likely have less of them. The squat stone building seemed to loom over him, its tall chimney rising up just higher than the lip of the shallow cave that the compound was built into.
He tried to peer through its thin slitted windows, but they were too high up for him to get a good look. Plus, it looked pretty dark in there.
Circling the building, he found a door facing towards the centre of the compound. It was as stout and imposing as the building itself, built of rough hewn planks reinforced with iron, a simple wooden gravity latch holding it shut.
He reached out, tense and ready to react as he gripped the wooden bar that held the door shut. He lifted the mechanism in a quick jerk, shoving the door open as he leapt backwards and levelled his spear at the now open entryway.
It swung inwards, hitting the wall behind it with a clatter of wood and stone. Kaius furrowed his brow, peering into the dark interior of the building. Judging by the lack of sound, it was empty. He still didn't trust it. Holding his spear at the ready, he stepped through the shadowy threshold.
His mouth flattened into a tight line as he drank in the interior. Whatever strange intelligence formulated the biomes of the Depths certainly did have grim sensibilities. In the centre of the smoke house there was a burnt out fire pit, metal butchery hooks attached to the rafters above. Humanoid limbs hung suspended, desiccation unable to hide the grizzly evidence of consumption.
He certainly didn't miss that some were noticeably smaller than the others.
Kaius spat on the floor, a hot rush of anger suffocating his disgust. He turned on his heel, marching out of the smoke house as he pulled shut the door behind him.
He knew it was a set piece. It was common knowledge that while the Depths often contained some shattered mirror reflections of things that existed - or once did - it twisted them to fit whatever strange logic was behind its biomes. There were a dozen campfire stories of delvers coming across some truly twisted regions.
It still didn't sit right with him. He was no stranger to blood and guts, but it just wasn't right.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He still had another building to clear. If the smoke house was free of undead, the lodge sure as hell would have some.
He approached the wide stone veranda, picking his way through the fur tanning racks that dotted its expanse. Not that the things stretched across the frame could ever be considered so valuable a good, what with the blatant strips of dried flesh and massive holes. A few of them he moved, clearing them away from the path to the door.
He winced as their brittle frames clattered against the floor, waiting for some clamouring horde to fall on his head at the noise. Thankfully the cave and buildings within stayed blessedly silent.
He approached the entrance, made of the same rough hewn and reinforced wood as the previous one. Though no less ready than the first building, his heart stayed steady as he grabbed the latch. A final steady breath centred his mind. He flung the door open.
The interior was shadowy and dark. To his surprise the building was completely open on the inside. He entered cautiously, spear held at the ready.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold ensconced torches flared to life, throwing the interior of the building into stark relief. Kaius's eyes widened, momentarily blinded. Blood pulsed, throbbing in his neck as his heart rate accelerated.
A soft grunt grabbed his attention. Whipping his head around, he focused on the source of the sound.
There, at the head of the hall, sat a great monstrosity. Enthroned on a seat of rotting fur and splintered bone, its black eyes drilled into him. The grotesque sneer that split its face conveying a level of contempt that chilled his blood.
Its muscle bound body had more draught than a draught horse, a complete lack of body fat revealing every single striation in its musculature, to the point it looked almost flayed. At least, the definition that wasn't marred by its diseased and pockmarked skin.
Its black unblinking eyes never left his own as it slowly reached down, grabbing a blood stained cleaver that must have been the size of his thigh.
A slow and purposeful rise brought it to its full height, the overly thick leather apron that covered its front rustling with the movement. It towered over Kaius, easily a stride and a half taller than him - and he towered over the villagers he had met at a strapping six and a half strides tall.
This was no mere mindless undead.
It smiled, rotten teeth poking out from behind scarred lips.
**Ding! You have challenged a Champion: The Hungry Butcher **
"Shit."
Kaius all but flew backwards out of the lodge, desperate to avoid a scenario where the giant undead could box him in and bring its obvious strength to bear. Dread shot through him as he took in the size of the undead. It made him look small, and he had no doubt that its monstrous cleaver would make short work of any sort of defence he could field against it.
His only chance was to rely on mobility and positioning to see him through the fight. If he even could. He blanched at the thought of the casual contempt on its face as it rose from its throne. The damned thing had moved with decidedly more grace than the other undead he had fought.
As his feet touched down on the dusty rock that made up the cave floor, Kaius heard great rattling thumps echo through and out of the hunting lodge. Seeming to almost shake the foundation of the building itself, each thundering reverberation reaching into his chest to set a cold grip on his heart.
The Bloodsong was still there, keeping his blood roaring hot. But it was muted. Tempered by primal feelings that screamed out, urging retreat to a long forgotten canopy in the face of something long of teeth and strong of claw.
Reaching the centre of the compound, Kaius took a long and slow breath, pushing the lances of ice that crept up his extremities to the back of his mind. Focusing on the battle ahead. There would be no room for mistakes. Not against a true monstrosity like this.
He settled into his stance, legs slightly bent and his grip on his spear firm but loose.
Great, grey fingers gripped the top of the lodge's door frame, aged wood splintering as the sausage sized digits clenched. Kaius's stomach dropped as the Champion stooped, bowing its head to fit through the building's entrance. Its cleaver dragging along the floor with a terrible screech of tortured stone.
It crossed the veranda, tanning wracks shattering like kindling in the passage of its inexorable bulk.
Standing at the threshold, it stared at him again. Cold malevolence glimmering in its eyes as a rictus grin split its diseased face. Kaius took a sharp breath, stoking the forge of battle-lust that had been growing within him over every brush with death he'd had since getting trapped in the Depths.
"Meat." It spoke. The words rumbled across the intervening space, a timbre of tortured metal rattling deep in Kaius's chest.
The champion lifted its oversized cleaver with a slow grace, slapping the sharpened slab of iron into its opposing palm with a great thwack.
A wooden stair splintered as it kicked off the veranda, the Champion charging him with the unhindered momentum of a raging bull. Kaius kept his eyes locked on the undead, ready to react.
Its great strides ate up the distance between them quickly. It was fast.
Raising its cleaver high, the Champion chopped. Kaius danced to the side. The slab of iron bit deep into the cave floor, stone shards leaving stinging bites as chipped stone showered his face.
He counterattacked instantly, lancing the undead in the arm with his boar-spear. Kaius tried to follow it up with a second stab to its exposed face, but was forced to dodge when the Butcher sliced at him with casual ease.
He didn't even try to parry the blow. With its obvious strength, his spear might as well have been a toothpick.
The Champion lashed out again, air whistling as its cleaver blurred towards him. Dipping back, Kaius repositioned, trying to harry the undead with a flurry of quick strikes. It managed to ward off some with sweeping parries, but for all its strength and increased coordination nothing could make such a weighty weapon as deft as his spear.
Small cuts and shallow stabs marred the chest and arms of the undead, small rivulets of thick running blood leaking from the wounds. Kaius watched the injuries intensely, relief washing through him when he saw that they didn't heal. Thank the gods for that, it would be challenging enough to whittle down the creature without having to burn through a pool of restorative energy.
Lunging, the Champion snatched toward him with a plate sized hand, trying to grab him with a fatal grip.
A sharp slide back just barely brought Kaius out of its range. He quickly retaliated with a warding stab that ground against the bones in its palm.
Roaring in frustration it slammed its cleaver into the stone floor at an angle, showering Kaius with stone shards and dust. His eyes welled up, forcing him to blink rapidly in an attempt to clear the sudden irritants.
He threw himself backwards, a water stained impression the only warning he had of the giant's follow up slash. Landing on his side, he rolled with his momentum, rising to his feet in a single fluid movement. The Champion was already charging towards him.
He took the momentary reprieve to clear his eyes, dodging another cleaver strike and retaliating with a slash that carved a line of weeping black through its pustule-ridden shoulder.
All distractions were forgotten now. Blood running hot, his senses hyper focused on the target in front of him. Kaius fell deeper into the Bloodsong with gusto, feeling the rushing need to fight.
The Butcher growled in fury, venting its malevolent aggression with a slash at his torso. Kaius slipped to the side, the blow whistling past him. Before he could retaliate, it moved with the momentum of its swing, bringing its cleaver around again.
And again.
And again.
Continuously Kaius gave ground to the Depths-spawn's fast flow of heaving strength and cutting iron. They moved around the natural stone courtyard, the Champion unable to corner him. Failing to force him into a position where he would be unable to dodge. Yet Kaius was equally as unable to penetrate the whirling offence to punish the assault.
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Suddenly the blows stopped, the Champion's face twisting into an expression of hatred that chilled the blood.
Its chest heaved as it opened its rotten mouth wide, shoulders pushing back as it inhaled. A great howl left its throat, a sound of ravenous consumption. The air shimmered as the sound hit Kaius like a physical wall. Something sank its way into his ears, pushing into his mind.
He could feel it. Stoking a primal fear. Encouraging his heart to race, his stomach to shrivel, suffusing his mind and body with a sickly, rotten terror. Calling to mind the final paralysing moment when the beast tears into your entrails, and you know there is nothing, nothing, you can do to fight or run. So you lie still, terror drenched, and die.
A sob caught in his throat, pupils dilating.
And then something fought back. Surging through him, rebuffing the energy with a deft familiarity. Walling it off. Crushing it. Denying it. Faster than he could blink, the foreign-borne fear was gone.
**Ding! You have resisted Fear: Call of Consumption**
**Ding! Rapid Adaption has reached level 12!**
The undead Champion watched him with glee, expecting him to freeze. Kaius pulsed with fury, incensed that the creature would dare to attack him in such a manner. To violate the sanctity of his mind, even if just for a moment.
An idea came to him. Reckless, almost stupidly so, but his fury at the Champion's mental effect made him far more inclined to try for a decisive action. Plus, the beast had a bloody class skill. He'd heard of the Guardians that defended the passages through the layers having them, but that was it. He knew nothing of Champions and their abilities. If it had one, who's to say it wasn't high enough level to have more? Or that next time, its roar wouldn't paralyse him, or send him fleeing in terror?
Better to take a chance now.
Kaius held still, allowing a slight tremor to enter his hands, jaw quivering as he stared at the champion with a wide eyed expression. The champion let out a slight chortle, convinced it had gotten him. Its arms fell to its side, cleaver carried with a practised ease. It stepped forwards.
"Closer, you bastard." Kaius thought.
It took another step, strolling with the calm surety of a sadistic predator that liked to play with its food.
"Closer!"
Another step brought it into range. Kaius exploded into motion, hidden tension erupting through his limbs as he lunged forward. His spear hurtled towards the Champion's undefended face. Its eyes widened in surprise. At the last moment it jerked its head to the side, the edge of Kaius's spear carving through its cheek and down the side of its head.
Loose flesh fell free, the undead's cheek flopping open to reveal the blackened nubs of its teeth. Black blood flowed from the wound, staining its grey flesh and leather apron.
Kaius looked in shock at the lacking result of his surprise attack and attempted to pull his spear back. With a swiftness belying its size the Butcher snatched up his spear, yanking Kaius towards it as its cleaver rose up for a killing stroke.
Forced to let go in order to not be pulled into the creature's reach, Kaius stumbled back, palming the hilt of his inscribed sword. He drew it free of its scabbard, silver and grey ripples catching the soft light. He watched as the undead tightened its grip on his borrowed boar spear, the wooden half creaking momentarily before it shattered.
It was for the best anyway. He'd always been more comfortable with the sword his father had gifted him in hand, and the more he used it the more focused the influence Warforged would have on his class would be. Plus, nothing ever settled in his palms quite as well as his sword.
The Champion stepped in, trying to catch Kaius with a diagonal slice. He dodged to the left, bringing his blade to bare, slicing the giant and scoring a deep cut across its shoulder and chest.
While his sword might have lacked some of the reach of the boar-spear, its mana drenched alloy and supernaturally honed edge made short work of the creature's toughened hide.
Whipping back around, the Champion brought down its cleaver in an overhead strike. Kaius's eyes widened. It had moved faster than it had before. He didn't have time to avoid the blow. His sword came up in a parry, trying to push the slab of iron away. The oversized weapons' sheer inertia shoved him back..
The cleaver skittered down his sword edge, refusing to bind. The Champion twisted its wrist, guiding its blade to skirt past his cross guard with ease. He tried to disengage, but was too slow to prevent the tip of the weapon from cutting deep into the flesh of his forearm.
Blood welled from the wound, spilling free to land on the cold stone with a light splatter. Kaius and the Champion broke their engagement, stepping back to circle each other with calm steps. The undead's easy grin was made all the more grotesque by the flap of its cheek hanging down past its jaw. It shook its free arm, now dripping and stained with the foetid blood that spilled forth from the wound on its shoulder.
He didn't miss the slight shudder as it tried to lift its hand to its front.
He'd done some damage to the muscle. That was good.
Nor did Kaius miss the growing itchy heat emanating from his wounded arm, so different from the burn of Health - already expending itself to seal the cut. No, it was the withering furnace of a fever.
**Ding! You have been afflicted by Blood Rot: Profane Instruments**
Another skill. That was bad. No less because he had no idea what blood rot actually did. He could only hope that Rapid Adaptation would see him through and keep him in fighting shape. At the very least he doubted the Butcher had anything else left up its sleeve. If it followed any normal sense of progression it would have to be over level forty to have another skill. He would already be dead if that was the case.
Even as it stood, it was a lethal foe. Without his legacy skills he would be dead a dozen times over. Not for the first time he thanked the gods for the luck of his birth, even if it did mean he grew up in the wilderness, hiding from unknown enemies.
He could feel Rapid Adaptation working, its bolstering energy flowing through his body to taste and sample the new threat. Devising the best way to adapt and neutralise the deleterious force.
He just had to hold on long enough for it to get there.
His arm hot and swollen, Kaius leapt towards the Butcher, stabbing towards its face. It raised its cleaver to slap away his thrust, only to roar in frustration as he twirled his blade and cut deep into its shoulder. Its blade arm, this time.
Kaius stepped through with his blow, aiming to circle behind the Butcher and cut off its avenues of attack. The undead whirled on him, lashing out with a cut that ripped another line of hot fire through the thin layer of fat that covered his belly.
**Ding! Affliction - Blood Rot: Profane Instruments strengthens!**
An explosion of pain that radiated out from the cut, followed by a welting and sickly heat. His abdominals tensed uncontrollably, and Kaius felt his skill start to probe the new location. Continuing to taste the flavour of the energy, trying to take its measure. He could already feel the tendrils of rot seeping up his arm from the previous cut. Snake-like, using his veins as highways to ravage his body.
He had to finish this. Fast.